NEW MUSICAL ST. ANNE COMES HOME ANNOUNCES CAST INCLUDING REBECCA MCKINNIS FOR OUTDOOR PERFORMANCES THIS AUGUST
St Paul’s Church, Covent Garden
Saturday 29th & Sunday 30th August
2:30PM & 6:00PM
New British Musical St. Anne Comes Home by Jack Miles announces its cast and creative team for its outdoor, socially distanced performances at St Paul’s Church Courtyard, Covent Garden.
It was announced today that Jordan Castle (The Light in the Piazza) will play James, Rebecca McKinnis (Dear Evan Hansen) will play Bridget, and Mathew Craig (The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole Aged 13 3/4) will play Russell. Directed by Martha Geelan (Associate Director for Fiddler on the Roof, West End) with Musical Supervision from Joe Beighton (SIX the Musical), St. Anne Comes Home is part of Iris Theatre’s Summer Festival.
The new folk musical takes place on 29th & 30th August for four performances. All performances in the festival will follow social distancing measures including 2 metre spacing between benches, all audience members will be asked to wear masks, temperature checks on entry and a one way system around the venue.
About the show
London can be lonely. But on the steps of St. Anne’s Church two people strike up an unlikely friendship. James has spent years running away from his problems, while Bridget is trapped by hers. Told through original folk music, St. Anne Comes home is a story about community, fear and forgiveness, that explores how reaching out might help us find our way.
During lockdown a video of the opening number ‘No Place Better’, sung by Jordan Castle, was released on YouTube here: https://youtu.be/p8RyCpGW2Iw
St. Anne Comes Home forms part of Iris Theatre’s Summer festival. As theatre begins to emerge after the difficulties of COVID-19, Iris Theatre reaffirms its commitment to support artists across disciplines to create and showcase work in the heart of London’s theatreland. Iris returns with a festival of new work in the beautiful grounds of St Paul’s Church, Covent Garden. Other productions include Dear Peter, Words I’ve Said, Fiona & The Fox, and PLATFORM – in the garden.
Cast
Jordan Castle’s credits include The Pirate Queen (London Coliseum); The Light in the Piazza (Royal Festival Hall London, LA Opera and Chicago Lyric Opera); Standby Old Deuteronomy and Gus/Bustopher Jones, CATS (‘16-‘18 International Tour); 21 Chump Street by Lin-Manuel Miranda (European Premiere).
Rebecca McKinnis’ stage credits include Heidi in Dear Evan Hansen (Noel Coward Theatre); Margaret in Everybody’s Talking About Jamie (Apollo Theatre); Christina in Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown (Playhouse Theatre); Tina Ruston in A Small Family Business (National Theatre Olivier); u/s and Lauren in Viva Forever (Piccadilly Theatre); Les Misérables (25th Anniversary Tour); Teacher and u/s Killer Queen in We Will Rock You (Dominion Theatre); u/s Jeanie in Fat Pig (Trafalgar Studios); Susannah Townley in Three Hours After Marriage (Union Theatre); Grumio in The Taming of the Shrew (Changeling Theatre Company); Lucy Lockett in Beggar’s Opera (Changeling Theatre Company); u/s and Donna/Tanya in Mamma Mia! (Prince of Wales); Virus/cover Kim and Big Sue in Taboo (UK Tour); Starting Here Starting Now (Upstairs at the Gatehouse); Kitty in Charley’s Aunt (CMC). Television Credits include Sound of Music Live (ITV); Comedy Cuts (ITV2). Film credits include Beauty and the Beast (Disney).
Mathew Craig most recently covered the roles of George, Mr Lucas, Mr Scruton and Bert in The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole, Aged 13 3/4 at The Ambassadors Theatre, West End. Mathew’s other theatre credits include George in The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole Aged 13 3/4 (Menier Chocolate Factory), The Narrator in The UK Tour of Blood Brothers (Bill Kenwright and Bob Tomson), the original tour cast of Beauty and the Beast (Disney Theatrical), Cameron Mackintosh’s Miss Saigon, A Midsummer Night’s Dream (UKTT), the original theatrical production of Imagine This directed by Tim Sheader as well as the Original UK Tour and West End production of We Will Rock You (Phil Mcintyre). Other productions include The Fantasticks (Duchess Theatre), A Little House Music (Arts Theatre), Showboat (Royal Albert Hall), Debbiene in Ken Hill’s The Phantom of the Opera UK Tour, Davy Jones in Peter Pan (Theatre Royal Lincoln), and Aspects of Love (Theatre Royal Lincoln). For television, Mathew has appeared in several shows for the BBC, notably Kombat Opera-Spouse Change (Avalon/BBC). Other TV includes Murray in Cast (Jacory Prods/Emerald Sky), Tom in Manorama: Drinking in Nottingham (Avalon/BBC) and Scott in Nuts and Bolts (HTV Wales).
Joining the company in the band are Claudia Fuller playing the violin, Ben Jones on the double bass, and Jack Miles on guitar.
Creative Team
Jack Miles (Writer/Composer) began writing songs about ten years ago, which led him to featured spots and an interview on BBC Introducing. He earned a degree with honours in Music Composition from Coventry University in 2017, and an MA with distinction in Musical Theatre Writing from Goldsmiths University the following year. Since graduating, Jack’s music has earned him a song workshop with Claude-Michel Schönberg, the first ever slot on a brand new podcast recorded live at The Other Palace, opportunities in education as a guest lecturer and musical director, and an independent production of The Problem with Fletcher Mott in 2019.
Martha Geelan (Director/Dramaturg) is a freelance theatre director, writer and workshop leader. As Associate Director to Trevor Nunn, productions include: Fiddler on the Roof, Love in Idleness (West End/Menier Chocolate Factory), The Bridges of Madison County (Menier Chocolate Factory) and Agnes Colander (Theatre Royal Bath). Their current project together is new Stiles and Drewe musical ‘Identical’, based on the story of the Parent Trap. As a Director her credits include Macbeth, The Tempest, Romeo and Juliet, Twelfth Night (The Young Shakespeare Company, UK & International Tours); The Psychosocial Gathering, The Librarians (Edinburgh Festival Fringe); Wolf (The Bunker Theatre); Spring Awakening: The Musical, Love and Money (Studio Theatre, Norwich); Our New Girl (extract, Park Theatre London); Between the Sheets, Potato Salad, When I Wake (Waterloo East Theatre); As You Might Like It (Rosemary Branch Theatre). Other productions as Associate/Assistant Director include: Indecent, The Lie, She Loves Me (Menier Chocolate Factory); God of Carnage (Theatre Royal Bath); Richard III, Romeo and Juliet (Shakespeare’s Rose Theatre, York); Top Hat, Thoroughly Modern Millie, West Side Story (Kilworth House Theatre); The Patriotic Traitor (Park Theatre London).
Joe Beighton (Musical Supervisor) is the Olivier nominated Music Supervisor of SIX the Musical. He studied music at the University of Cambridge where he was president of the Musical Theatre Society and a choral scholar. He then trained at the Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts. Credits include: SIX the Musical (Musical Supervisor, (UK Tours and West End; Broadway; Chicago [Winner: Jeff Award for Musical Direction] Sydney Opera House; NCL Cruise Ships)); 42 Balloons Workshop (Musical Supervisor, The Other Palace Studio); Merrily We Roll Along (MD, LAMDA); Bare (MD, LAMDA); Southern Belles (MD, Kings Head London); Cinderella (MD, Civil Theatre Chelmsford); Luke Bayer in Concert (Live at Zedel); Spring Awakening (Greenside Venues, Edinburgh); Janie Dee ‘Off the Record’ (MD, Live at Zedel).
St. Anne Comes Home is produced by Katie Wilmore & James Leggat from Willow Walk Productions.
Social Media Links
Instagram: @stannemusical
Twitter: @StAnneMusical